booktalesy Chapter 251 Cashing Out
Chapter 251 Cashing Out
Chapter 251 Cashing Out
San Jose mornings are always shrouded in a light mist, a stark contrast to the sunny and cheerful atmosphere that California is usually associated with.
Just after 10 a.m., Ernst's Rolls-Royce slowly drove through the city center streets, the scenery outside the window rushing past, and finally stopped in front of the headquarters building of Leap Games.
Ernst pushed open the car door and strode into the office building, arriving at the conference room amidst various greetings.
He pushed open the door, and the scene before him was exactly as he expected: the conference room was already full of people.
Seated next to the head of the table were Ryan Ruiz, CEO of Leap Games, and Josh Green, CFO, as well as representatives from Leap Games' four major shareholders: Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Silicon Valley Investment Fund.
"I'm sorry everyone, I was stuck in traffic and I'm late." Ernst said with an apologetic smile as he walked briskly to the head seat and sat down.
"It's alright, it's only a few minutes, we just arrived not long ago," said Thomas Wilson of Goldman Sachs first.
"That's right, I can understand. After all, even heroes can't resist the charms of a beautiful woman," Michael Moritz of a Silicon Valley investment fund added, raising his eyebrows as he spoke, which drew laughter from the conference room.
Because it was a local Silicon Valley company, the Silicon Valley investment fund sent its CEO, Michael Moritz, from Sequoia Capital, while the other companies sent representatives.
Ernst listened to the teasing from the crowd and secretly groaned inwardly.
When he went out to sea with Jobs and Larry Ellison, they didn't bother to hide their trip at all; after all, they considered it just a normal leisure activity.
But who would have thought that a reporter would be so bored as to wait near the pier for two days and one night just to capture their movements?
When the three men's yacht docked, not only did the three Silicon Valley tycoons disembark, but also dozens of tall, slender people...
A beautiful woman with stunning looks.
When they went there, there were three men, but when they came back, they were surrounded by a group of beautiful women. This scene is full of imagination and it would be hard not to make the news headlines.
Now, the front pages of major media outlets are filled with news about the three of them, with headlines that are more exaggerated than the last.
Silicon Valley's Big Three Seek Pleasure at Sea, Accompanied by Dozens of Beautiful Women
Jobs, Ellison, and Ernst's yacht party sparks controversy over their extravagant lifestyle.
Ernst and Larry Ellison didn't care, but Jobs was furious. He had called Ernst before getting out of the car and started cursing him, as if he wanted to tear him apart.
"You two had a great time, partying and having a good time, while I, being honest and law-abiding, should share this blame with you?"
Jobs's roar still echoes in Ernst's ears, leaving him both helpless and amused.
"Sigh, there's nothing I can do about it." Ernst put on a helpless look, shrugged and said, "I just went out to sea to fish and relax, but I didn't expect to get lucky and catch a 163-pound bluefin tuna."
"Larry insisted that it was a great occasion and needed to be celebrated, so he spent money to bring over so many girls. I couldn't stop him."
He specifically emphasized that Larry Ellison paid for it, because in Silicon Valley, news travels faster than the speed of light, so he had to clear himself of any wrongdoing first.
As for whether Larry Ellison will be angry, Ernst doesn't care. What does it have to do with me?
Upon hearing Ernst's explanation, everyone in the conference room couldn't help but laugh, their teasing expressions growing even stronger.
Michael Moritz waved his hand and said with a smile, "Alright, alright, let's not dwell on this anymore. We all know what's going on. Ernst, you didn't call us old buddies over here just to talk about fishing and women, did you? Just get to the point."
The other shareholder representatives nodded in agreement. They all knew that Ernst wouldn't have summoned them for no reason; since he had invited everyone, there must be something important to announce.
Ernst slowly picked up the coffee cup on the table, took a small sip, and felt the warm liquid slide down his throat before slowly saying, "Actually, it's nothing particularly big. I'm just planning to cash out some of my shares in YueDong Games. I wonder if any of you are interested in taking them?"
Cash out?
The moment that word was uttered, the atmosphere in the meeting room instantly became heavy.
In the investment world, cashing out is a very common but also sensitive matter.
This is common because almost every founder of a listed company will cash out a portion of their shares at an appropriate time to increase their wealth and improve their lives.
The sensitive point is that YueDong Games has not yet had an IPO or officially gone public. At this time, the founder's proposal to cash out will inevitably cause investors to have bad associations. Does the founder want to cash out and run away?
Citigroup's Mark Davis frowned and broke the silence first, "Ernst, are you kidding me? Leap Games is doing so well right now, it's on the rise, why would you suddenly want to cash out? Didn't you already cash out some funds from the Boston consortium during the last round of financing?"
Robert Carter of Morgan nodded in agreement, adding, "Yes, the potential of Leap Games is undeniable. If it continues at its current pace, it won't be long before it goes public. Wouldn't it be a huge loss for you to cash out now?"
The group was filled with doubt, but a hint of interest also flickered in their eyes.
After all, Leap Games has the strength to back it up. After Ernst took over, the company developed at an astonishing speed. Not only did its games achieve great success, but its user base also continued to grow.
Although Ernst was a strong and domineering person who was autocratic in company management and did not allow any investment institutions to participate in the company's daily operations, he was very transparent in his financial matters.
The company proactively reports the financial status and development of all its subsidiaries to investment institutions every month. Even if investors don't ask, they will still send detailed reports to them. This level of transparency is very rare in the industry, and most listed companies cannot do this.
Therefore, the four major investment institutions are very familiar with the situation of YueDong Games.
They all knew very well that as long as YueDong Games continued to develop along its current trend, an IPO was almost a certainty, and the company would definitely have a high market value after listing, at which point all the investors would make a fortune.
It's like buying it is making a profit; who wouldn't be tempted by such a good deal?
But the more this happened, the deeper their doubts became, and for a moment they didn't know how to answer.
A moment later, Thomas Wilson of Goldman Sachs couldn't contain himself any longer. He leaned forward slightly and said, "Ernst, stop beating around the bush and just give me a straight answer. How many shares do you want to cash out this time? What's the valuation? Goldman Sachs is willing to take them all."
"Why Goldman Sachs?" Thomas Wilson had barely finished speaking when Michael Moritz of Sequoia Capital was the first to jump out and say with dissatisfaction.
"Ernst is consulting with all of us, not just Goldman Sachs," Citigroup's Mark Davis chimed in.
Although Morgan's Robert Carter did not speak, his expression clearly showed that he agreed with the other two's views, and he looked at Thomas Wilson with a hint of displeasure in his eyes.
These three individuals were extremely dissatisfied with Goldman Sachs. When YueDong Games was raising funds, it was because of Goldman Sachs that they were forced to contribute significantly more funds for no reason.
Although it seems like this investment is definitely profitable now, who wouldn't want to make more?
Faced with the three men's questions, Thomas Wilson remained unfazed, just like the company had always done, and said in a forceful tone, "What I say represents all of us."
Michael Moritz curled his lip, while Citigroup's representative, Mark Davis, was even less tolerant, saying, "You represent us? If Goldman Sachs wants to be Citigroup's boss, you'll have to wait until your next life."
Robert Carter then spoke up, "Wall Street doesn't belong to Goldman Sachs alone. You can use your domineering style on outsiders. We won't buy into that."
For a moment, the entire conference room seemed to have turned into a battlefield between investment institutions. Several people were talking back and forth, refusing to give way to each other, and even began to expose each other's secrets.
Ernst sat in the main seat and listened carefully for a while. He found that what they were talking about were all things that everyone was already familiar with. There was no fresh revelation at all, so it was really not interesting.
He couldn't help but pick at his ear, and after a lull in their argument, he slowly spoke up, "Gentlemen, how about I leave first? You can call me after you've finished your fight and settled things, and I'll come back, okay?"
His voice wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced the noisy conference room.
This is the benefit that a well-managed company with great potential and a promising future can bring to investors.
The founders and investors dare to speak so loudly.
Have a problem with that? If you do, you'd better keep it to yourself.
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